Shamus Dark - Songs for Suicidal Lovers at The Harrison

In the intimate surroundings of the Harrison’s cellar music room, Shamus presents a stripped down version of ‘Songs For Suicidal Lovers’. The show, originally with full cinema screen projection, was first aired at London’s Royal Festival Hall and also in the wonderful harbour setting at the Clockenflap Arts Festival in Hong Kong. This time, with piano and keyboard maestro Rick Laughlin, guitarist Paul Harvey, of Prefab Sprout and Tom Robinson Band fame, together with various digital gizmos, the evening will feature classic songs by Cole Porter, Rogers and Hart and Thelonius Monk, with some Joy Division and Elvis Costello tunes thrown in to spice things up. Many of the songs are featured on a CD album of the same name that earned rave reviews in Asia and the USA…....

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In the intimate surroundings of the Harrison’s cellar music room, Shamus presents a stripped down version of ‘Songs For Suicidal Lovers’. The show, originally with full cinema screen projection, was first aired at London’s Royal Festival Hall and also in the wonderful harbour setting at the Clockenflap Arts Festival in Hong Kong. This time, with piano and keyboard maestro Rick Laughlin, guitarist Paul Harvey, of Prefab Sprout and Tom Robinson Band fame, together with various digital gizmos, the evening will feature classic songs by Cole Porter, Rogers and Hart and Thelonius Monk, with some Joy Division and Elvis Costello tunes thrown in to spice things up. Many of the songs are featured on a CD album of the same name that earned rave reviews in Asia and the USA….
“…an understated tour de force” – Gina Morris, evolutionofmedia.com
“…the album is a dark and brooding journey through cover versions as diverse as Frank Sinatra and Joy Division” – Adam Wright, South China MorningPost
And there will also be songs from Shamus’s last CD album, Trouble In Paradise, released in 2013 and of which the critics said…
“…echoes of '80s dance, '70s rock and contemporary jazz all sit happily side by side. This is a fine collection - a left-field take on the classics that reminds us how an artist's vision can throw new light on old favourites.” Bruce Lindsay, AllAboutJazz.com
“His interpretations of the songs is just sublime. Bear in mind, I was never a fan of Jazz, but my mind has been changed and my musical palate has had a re-education… long overdue.” Micky Dodds, RadioPureGently.com
It won’t be an evening for the faint-hearted, or for those of a nervous disposition, but if you are prepared to be in the company of some of the saddest and most melancholy songs of the 20th century, then bring a hankie or two, just to be on the safe side and as Time Out observed, “don’t forget the Prozac”.

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